The Way of the Cross

Herri met de Bles's Way of the Cross belongs to the Flemish master's specialty in panoramic landscape compositions filled with numerous small figures enacting narrative scenes. Met de Bles, also known as 'Civetta' (Little Owl) for his habit of hiding owls in his compositions, was among the most celebrated Flemish landscape painters of his generation, developing the panoramic world-landscape tradition established by Joachim Patinir. His Via Crucis allows the viewer to follow Christ's progress through a vast rocky landscape from multiple simultaneous narrative moments, combining devotional narrative with landscape spectacle in a format particularly valued by sixteenth-century collectors.

The panoramic landscape dominates the composition, with the processional narrative of the Way of the Cross winding through the expansive terrain. Herri's characteristic blue-green aerial perspective creates depth and atmospheric distance.